Good Things

1) Colleague from Chris's work calls from LA with "get Marina on the phone, I have an empty suitcase and I am at Target" ( requests: US weekly, crest whitestrips, nestle toll house morsels, and Salsa)- trust me those words were heavenly

2)Green kids- CJ is insisting we use the car less so we have been walking home from school (e.g they scooter and I jog behind them)- 1 hour later we make it back but going green CJ style will probably help me more than my fitflops . ( yes I got a new pair this year)

3)Lost- on the week break I have lowered my expectations of the answers u will provide me. I now know I will be dissatisfied but if u try to pull a Sopranoes fade to black ending on me u will see anger.

4) Babies- no not me- but everyone I know is having a baby so clothes shopping I will happily go:)

5) My Baby girl insisting on a pink prince tennis racket and then showing up on the court with a damn good backhand for a 4 year old ( so NOT my DNA in play)

6) MTV 16 and pregnant- show okay but the adorable couple from MI who gave their baby up for adoption. I truly believe they are in love- great couple who have had some tough hurdles placed in front of them and are so mature for their age ( in a good way)

7)Million $ pie- recipe from Paula Deen, pie rocks- was gone in 60 seconds at a party this weekend.

8)Not proud of it- but crazy strict school wasn't going to let little man swim with goggles during school swim class unless he had a medical note. (ridiculous - I know)
Mom to the rescue- not proud of it but sometimes bad handwriting has the benefits of looking like DR script.(e.g suffers from severe allergies that require the use of swimming goggles)

9)Chelsea Handler- u make me laugh, u haven't help me from stop swearing but I think I'll live a little longer with all the laughs I've had.

10) UK elections- we have a knock on our door every 15 seconds from someone trying to get us to vote for such and such candidate- had to let them know we can't vote here...

11) The Sun- still not warm here but we spotted a yellow circle in the sky yesterday.

Recovery

Still recovering- the body does not rebound back like a rubber band anymore. Did I run a marathon- no ( the London Marathon was this past sunday) and yes a few folks saw the sight of me at school drop off and assumed I did that or more appropriate to my current level of fitness got run over by a truck.

I did fly out for a girls weekend in florida ( yes God really wanted me to go as did Chris)- first flight off of London since the Ash crisis (seriously a volcano?)- so 2flights later ( 11 hours total) and I was drinking red bull (e.g sugar free rockstar) and vodka with 7 other amazing Moms. So I won't go into the details ( we like to keep things mysterious) but basically I never got over my jet lag (no sleep), ate a tone of fried shrimp, and drank quite a bit of booze, all while talking a mile minute ( I have no voice at all now) and trying to read all 18 magazines we shared as a group ( Oh I miss my US trash mags), and keep up with all my friends updates.

Flew out sunday night- they had to hold the plane at chicago on the runway for me since the Florida flight was delayed ( another stroke of luck)- Made it home. Not functioning at an A level mom- picked CJ up from soccer (isn't it the best when your kids are so excited to see you) and could barely make it thru dinner or baths without falling asleep. Husband- not sure what he has up his sleeves ( wondering if is going to ask for permission to climb Everest)- because I came into a house with the laundry done, beds made, kitchen usable ( he threw out all evidence of pizza boxes and happy meals), and he had a jam packed activity weekend, ballet, birthday party, swim lessons, and kiddie haircuts. He rocked it and showed no signs of being beaten by the process- me on the other hand look like I ran a marathon after never having run more than a 5k. Recovery mode initiated

Midwest vs East Coast Bring it On

Blog has taken a backburner with school holidays in full effect. Got back from amazing trip to Tenerife ( Canary Islands)- the good news is the trip would have been a success if I saw the sun and the SUN is what we got . Warm weather, warm pools, happy kids, some English celeb sighting ( an Eastender actress ( their version of General Hospital, and tennis player Greg Rusedski ( note Chris actually drank with him and watched the Masters)- Sidebar did anyone else cheer when Tiger totally missed that putt- sorry but I was pretty pleased he didn't play as well as he normally does and not to butt in but what the heck is Elin waiting for ( hire the barracudas and let the bloodshed begin- I know I need to work on the concept of forgiveness.)

Completely relaxing trip- kids were in the pool most of the day and the hotel set up an outdoor movie viewing area so after the kids ate they could watch a movie while the adults finished their dinner. We went with friends from England and it was a nice mix of having people you know with you but not eating every meal together. We met another American family at the resort who are living in England- the husband came up to us and said he could tell we were Midwesterners because we were talking with folks in the pool and bing sociable ( I didn't want to point out that Chris was in a MSU shirt and hat). He was from Ohio so we talked briefly- nice guy- then he calls his wife to come meet us- I am not exaggerating within 30 seconds she told me she was from Manhattan and that is why she had a zero adjustment to London because NYC and London are so similiar and then she went on to tell me that she has a Range Rover and her husband has a Lexus and they belong to this golf club in Surrey and they love the International School they are at, and this and that. ( Long story short- she was the most annoying person and I couldn't swim far enough away from her and bragging life- to be fair her kids were actually sweet and well behaved). The kicker was her husband kept trying to find Chris and I because he loves "Midwesterners" and hates hearing how great New York is from his other half.

Headed back to 50 degree England weather that basically the peachy glow I obtained was gone as soon as I exited the plane. Seriously I am back to a pale white purplish color.

Karma

So baby boy's bday was a success- very low cool- 7 friends- pizza- pinata (hit with a light sabre)-scavenger hunt- and soccer in the backyard- that night our 6 year old stayed up until 10 trying to assemble some Atlantis lego ship- ( Dad was no help since MSU was on and its was a nailbiter)

Next morning wake up and chris had forgotten to lock his car door ( due to all the bday activities)- Tom Tom stolen and spare change gone. To thief who took our SAT NAV- I hope it directs you to purgatory ( was going to say Hell but felt it was a bit harsh)- Bad Karma and Greek Evil eye are on U! Since I am directionally challenged 2 friends have offered up their sat navs for our remaining time in England.

Other thoughts- CJ came home from school on Mon and talked about some school lunch of burnt sausages ( the school menu is disgusting) that he didn't like. I asked him why he didn't tell the teachers and in a deadpan voice he said "I didn't want to show weakness"- still laughing/disturbed from that reply.

Other news- Chris and I have put together a team of friends for the school's Curry Quiz Night. We spread fictitious rumors that we were having tryouts/ practice sessions.
Love the fact that a few folks actually believed that we would hold tryouts for our teams.

Signs of Trouble

I was going to not mention the health care bill passing but alas I have had a recent run in with socialized medicine that has me pretty scared for what I will be returning to in the USA. Long story short- I went in to get an ultrasound of my gallbladder to see if I had gallstones ( I don't). The Dr performing the scan Hated me from the getgo- I gave him a brief history of my perforated appendix a few years back and some other gall bladder tests I had. Anyhow- he turns to the nurse and says in a pompous fashion, "those American are so use to using expensive tests to diagnose routine medical conditions." Turns out the machine they used on me in TX they have like 1 of them in London . He kept asking me where I had the test done- assuming it was the Mayo Clinic or some internationally renown hospital. I had to laugh as I said a Plano TX Hospital. So excuse the pessimism as I fear will be paying higher copays and more taxes for a lesser quality of medicine. ( would LOVE to be proven wrong on this). On the + side- great news for preexisting conditions and the uninsured.

Other Signs Of Trouble

1. Sony exec- suggesting selling cutup vegetables at movie theatres. ( and yes I know I said to do this while kids are watching a show but its the cinema) Ridiculous can't we let kids eat popcorn and a fountain drink in peace. Next we will have biking in the seats so we can spin at the movie theatre. (could this be a mney making idea?- gymcinema- need to get a patent)

2.Jesse James- what a jackas$- Bullock needs to drop him like the razzie she won.

3.Lost- I am so frustrated - way too out there that Sawyer was a COP in his parallel world. Please make it more believable. All u Alias fans out there will we recall that the last season went South with crazy story wrapups ( did we ever solve the Rimbaldi crud?)- This show is angering me.


Our house is happy right now- MSU nailbiter victory, a dance recital in sight, 3 egg hunts this week, and a trip to Legoland on the horizon, and the appearance of the SUN
(we were outside all day sunday taking in the sunny weather)

The List

So the list has reappeared ( pretty sure Chris wasn't psyched to see it come out again). The "List" is everything I want to see or do in England before we leave.
The First year we hit the List hard ( to be fair too hard at one point we had been to London and Cambridge one too many times that one of the kids asked why we keep going on double decker tour buses)- So we took a break and got in the mode of normal non tourist living- well the list is back with limited time on this side of the pond-we need to start checking some sights off. So we headed to Hampton Court Palace (e.g Henry the VIII palace and grounds- weather cooperated- kids cooperated ( helped that they loved the maze of hedges on the grounds ( me of course only could think of "The Shining" while in the maze. I'm big fan of that period of history so the palace was fun to wander around and check out life in the Tudor Time.

Other news we had the most positive conference with CJ's teacher. We of course had some shortcomings to work on ( "his handwriting is still too LARGE for joining, and sometimes he is too "keen" to participate) but overall she exuded warmth. I mentioned being a little nervous about starting a new school in the fall back in TX for CJ and she cut me off mid sentence and said "With Christopher, There is nothing to worry about." (most affectionate moment we've had! The conf was so nice I won't try to send dried fruit in for a snack the rest of the year)
Other good fact- I again get to celebrate 2 mother's day. The British one today- I was greeted by handmade cards and coffee in bed and no trekking to swim class or doing homework with the kids today. Alas, the American and the English Father's Day is the same day:)

Oscar recap (the good, the bad , the ugly)

So I am 48 hours late but that's what u get when u have to wait 24 hours to watch the taped version. (which btw I cheated and I checked my iphone at 7 am to see all the winners but managed to coerce a few friends with American salsa and chips and champagne to watch the coverage)

A few comments

1-Haven't seen the Hurt Locker- so I was at quite a disadvantage for the awards show. How anti climatic was the introduction by Tom Hanks of "Best Picture".
Red Carpet- due to watching the British version at the red carpet I now miss Ryan and Gialiana (she looks like a bobble head and is so annoying). The British red carpet crew was so pathetic they only could get Colin Firth and Colin Farrell to acknowledge their questions. ( we got the E version of the red carpet as well but I basically used up all our DVR by taping 8 hours of coverage)

2. SJP- Okay I am going to be HARSH- Sarah Jessica Parker looked so old- older than Meryl Streep- she needs eye work done pronto. Her hubby looked middle age and fat.
BTW I almost started crying when they did the John Hughes dedication- All of the stars looked so old (Ringwald, Broderick, Judd Nelson)- this translates into WE ARE OLD. (seems like yesterday I was watching 'pretty in pink"- I am sure it will be remade with Miley Cyrus next year.

3-Baldwin and Martin- funny liked a few of the bits but bring Mr Jackman back- I like song and dance by an Ozzie hottie.

4.Best Dressed- Penelope, Winslet, Clooney and girlfriend, Bullock (xcept that lipstick was a little too red for me ( I hate red), girl from Avatar in lavender

5. Worst Dressed- Matt Damon's wife (she just annoys me for no good reason), Kristen Stewert from twilight (could she snarl more in an annoying way), R Downy JR, SJP, Sigourney Weaver, Vera ( it lady from Up in the Air), Charlize Theron, Morgan Freeman (little known fact he broke up with his wife of 24 years and is dating his 26year old step granddaughter)- to say he lost points with me is an understatement.

6. Speeches all were awful- no vengeance or humor just boring shout outs to agents and lawyers.